Hawaiian Electric Seeks OK For Project To Power Electric Vehicles

Hawaiian Electric Co. asked the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday to approve a proposal for reduced rates for early adopting electric vehicle users.

The proposed three-year pilot project for charging highway-capable electric vehicles will be open to a thousand customers on Oahu, 300 in Maui County and 300 on the Big Island.

â¿¿Our goal is to make Hawaii EV-ready as new, highway-capable EVs are expected to hit the market in the coming year,â¿ Executive Vice President of Hawaiian Electric Robbie Alm said. â¿¿We also want to send a message to automobile manufacturers to include Hawaii among the first markets where EVs are available. This is another step in our commitment to the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative.â¿

Residential customers will be able to choose whether to charge their EVs along with the rest of their home usage on a single meter at new time-of-use rates or to provide wiring and a meter box for a second meter provided by Hawaiian Electric exclusively for EV charging with separate EV time-of-use rates for the second account.

Commercial customers will be required to add additional meters and set up a separate account for charging on the EV rates.

The company also has suggested off-peak hour rates that would offer EV users 3 cent to 10 cent per kilowatt-hour savings when charging their vehicle during less demanding hours.

The pilot project rates will go into effect on Oct. 1 for three years pending approval by the Public Utilities Commission. Hawaiian Electric will conduct the pilot project using existing resources.